About 10 years ago my family hosted a backyard talent show for our neighbors. I love getting to know people through the things they choose to share. People seem softer when they’re sharing something special to them, or funnier, because being vulnerable makes you want to protect yourself with humour. I tend to gravitate towards the humour side when presenting at a talent show. I’d like to think that I’m making it easer for others to step out of their comfort zone by making a fool of myself. Lip syncs are my specialty.

This particular talent show was different for me because the chronic health challenges I was facing were exacerbated. The pain and fatigue I felt limited the way I could participate. My physical energy had tanked and my creative energy used for researching what could be wrong and how I could heal.

Several months before the talent show my daughter had convinced me to purchase an IPhone. Taking pictures with my phone became a way for me to get out of my head, notice the beauty around me, and stay connected to my creative nature. During that time and still, taking pictures and using the imposed stillness (that coincides with chronic pain) to play with the images is a salvation for my spirit that brings me a lot of pleasure.

So instead of dancing for the talent show I chose to showcase recent photos I had taken. I hung them on our back porch and presented them to our neighbors while talking about what it felt like to be stopped in my tracks by debilitating symptoms, my belief in my bodies ability to heal, and that someday I would see the merit in my struggles.

It was scary to share my challenges so publicly, but because of my bravery, friends felt comfortable sharing some of their hardships with me and our relationships deepened. I had broken the ice with my vulnerability and it felt amazing!

You know what else felt great? Holding the images in my hand that had gently coerced me, with their beauty, into preserving them. The thread of light that wove through the images lingered in my imagination. I thought to myself, wouldn’t it be neat to send bright beautiful images through the mail that would light up the day of not only the recipient, but all the people that touched the cards along the way. The catalyst for FLOURISH.

My path to healing involves noticing and responding to connections and exploring the beauty of deep relationships, whether it be with myself, the natural world, or other humans. I feel empowered by other’s stories and in exchange would like to share stories that highlight connectivity, with you.

I will be introducing topics slowly. Giving you access to new ideas, once a month, one at a time, through the mail. Analogue Instagram!

As a subscriber you can expect subject matter to include: original art by me or friends along with text that chronicles: my adventures in eating seasonally, book reviews, music I love, snippets on revitalizing interconnected community, recipes, healing successes and follies, highlights of others work that I find especially intriguing, project ideas, the pondering of life situations, questions for you to ponder, and maybe even cute things my kids say (embodied wisdom).

Content will come with the intention of sharing some magic while introducing you to new ideas that spark your curiosity and enhance our collective connection.

I hope to have you all skipping back from your mailbox to the tune of “Lovely Day” by Bill Withers :)

To subscribe, click on any of the photos to be taken to purchasing options

This project was a leap of faith. The universe provided me with a clue and I had to prove I was listening.

After dreaming about a farmer wearing a white shirt with red polkadots, and wondering about the significance of the flamboyant farmer, I received, the next day, in my mailbox, a Vogue magazine with the exact shirt from my dream featured on the cover!

Deducting that a farmer symbolized tending growth and planting seeds. I took this as divine intervention, the seed catalogue for my next project. I decided to challenge myself to recreate the pages of the magazine that inspired me. The energy of the coincidence was too much to ignore. It felt insensitive not to follow my dream.

I cut out the pages of the magazine that sparked an emotion. Throughout this project my main objective was not to think and to let instinct and fate guide me. My design process was to look at the photograph then my fabric shelve. Pull fabrics that shared the feeling that the photo gave me and play around with shapes on my table until something clicked, then start cutting. There were a number of times when I would find fabric at the thrift store and later realize that it was the perfect color or print to represent the next picture in the series. Sometimes I was inspired by what the model was wearing, sometimes it was the play between the colors in the photo, sometimes it was shape or contrasts.

I’ve included the magazine pages that have inspired the shirt in this photo representation. I have a gut feeling that this project is not finished. It feels like there is still an energy left to pass along. The idea came to me unexpectedly and perhaps will bump into another in a similar fashion. If you are a maker or producer of ideas and would like to use these shirts, please contact me!

Last time I thought about quitting fashion I bought myself a weekend sound healing workshop. Thinking I could use my connection to sound and color for a more direct approach to helping people(making bright clothes often feels like the long way around). I love the sound of the crystal bowls and the full body high that comes from being surrounded by concentrated tones. Instead of leaving the workshop ready to lead a sound bath I left with visions of clothing I was dying to make! The instructor spoke of using intention to change the vibration of a room. She said we could walk into a party and concentrate on sending love out of our chest, and that, that love would make a difference in the way people interacted with each other. She offered this as a way to counteract social anxiety. Focus on the love. I thought about secretly helping people along. The emcee of a fundraiser for a nonprofit music program invited me to dress him for an event. I wondered if I used the heart chakra color to dress him (green) if it wouldn’t contribute to enhancing the love in the room. And seeing that green is also the color of money, possibly raise more funds for the cause. These are the shirts I made.

My husband was invited to tour with Jenny Lewis and I hadn’t heard her music. In order to familiarize myself with her style I made these shirts while listening to her album “The Voyager”. Making something while I’m listening allows me to connect with the sounds and lyrics in a deeper way. Because I’m aiming to represent what I’m hearing I pay more attention to the phrasing, instrumentation, production, and lyrics. I was initially moved by the smooth quality of Jenny’s voice. It’s powerful but gentle. This was represented by the simplicity of the fabrication. The bold colors in bright tones lean towards the optimistic vibe I feel through her songs. The small prints look like the sound of a full band with composed parts. Contrasting collars sound like high extended notes at the front of the mix.

This series of shirts was made while listening to the rough mixes of what would become Karl Blau’s “Out Her Space”. The horns and staccato rhythms inspired the choppy stripes. The depth of the sound illustrated through the infinite patterns in the houndstooth and floral fabrics. And the golden voice represented in the grounded earthy colors. This album is warm and rich like chocolate, comforting like a blanket, and provokes movement.

The stars are crystals gleaming in the night

A sliver of light under a door in a dark room

Rolling waves on an open sea

Pink and orange sunsets filtering through heavy rain clouds

Standing on the edge of a cliff with arms outstretched

The grounding and uplifting feeling of old friends

Dreaming vividly while sleeping in front of a glowing fire

The ripple that appears after raindrops hit a still lake

Some things i thought of while revisiting the album Glossy Recall by Hungry Cloud Darkening (now New Issue). I made this set of shirts a few years ago while listening to this album and I’m listening again this morning. Finding context for my fabric choices. With the pictures of shirts in front of me and headphones in my ears I see exactly why I chose the fabrics I did. This album feels full and rich while simultaneously feeling bright and spacious. The highly patterned fabrics mimicking the constant base motion and the swirly bright tones that juxtapose. All three shirts have busy patterns with white in between. Patterns that appear random. The solid colors representing the balance that happens when slow meets bright and everything feels balanced. Grounding, energizing, peaceful, and powerful. Listen!

These dresses represent several dress patterns that I have made and tested in size 6. The kids love to wear them! They play hard, ride bikes, climb trees, have dance parties, dig worms, eat messy things, and get really dirty. They love the ease and comfort of these one of a kind dresses made without hardware.